Book contents
- “I Made Mistakes”
- Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations
- “I Made Mistakes”
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1947–1961
- 2 Civilian Control
- 3 Continuity and Change
- 4 Taking Charge of Vietnam Policy
- 5 When Military Problems Become Economic Problems
- 6 The Fall of 1963
- 7 McNamara’s Transition into the Johnson Administration
- 8 Decisions, Indecisions, Visions and Revisions
- 9 McNamara in Crisis, 1966–1968
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Cast of Characters
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - Civilian Control
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2019
- “I Made Mistakes”
- Cambridge Studies in US Foreign Relations
- “I Made Mistakes”
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1947–1961
- 2 Civilian Control
- 3 Continuity and Change
- 4 Taking Charge of Vietnam Policy
- 5 When Military Problems Become Economic Problems
- 6 The Fall of 1963
- 7 McNamara’s Transition into the Johnson Administration
- 8 Decisions, Indecisions, Visions and Revisions
- 9 McNamara in Crisis, 1966–1968
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Cast of Characters
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
McNamara moved more forcefully than any of his predecessors in implementing civilian control over the military, with a contemptuous and domineering attitude toward the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). His most important managerial innovations were designed to enforce “subjective control,” namely to impose civilian objectives and ideas on the military. The Draft Presidential Memoranda (DPMs) and the Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS) were designed to align military tools to civilian-defined foreign and economic policies. He worked closely with Secretary of State Dean Rusk to align military tools to the President’s foreign policy and with Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon to ensure the Defense Department’s programs fit within a framework of fiscal discipline.
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- Information
- ‘I Made Mistakes’Robert McNamara's Vietnam War Policy, 1960–1968, pp. 37 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019